Salt Rolls In, Ranger Sighs π§
sighs in digital captivity Thirteen players showed up at Creekside Park for Week 5 of 7, on the Creekside DGC - Main 18 layout under clear skies at 71.3Β°F, with wind averaging 6.8 mph and topping out at 8.0. That's a new chapter. Week 4's mountain-faction audit, Wasatch Tested, gave way to Salt Contested, where the salt-bed challengers launch a bureaucratic offensive and flood the middle standings with rival paperwork. The Creekside Border Disputes now have a second front, and the tired park ranger has a second clipboard. Conditions were calm enough that the scorecards are the only thing to blame or credit.
Sole Claimant, Questionable Paperwork
Shane Cooper won RAF at +5 on an 803-rated round, the round of the day in his division, and led wire to wire with no lead changes to report. It's an intimate one-card showdown, and the division has room for more claimants next week. His three-hole cold streak across holes 1-3 ended, then he took +1 on the Super Ace hole (5) and +1 on the CTP hole (6) before settling into a par train across holes 7-12. Last week he won at even par on an 887-rated round, so the score climbed and the rating dropped 84 points. The 803 still sits 2 above his 801 baseline. π
Back Nine Repossession Notice
Scott Belchak won RAH at -6 on a 948-rated round, 26 points above his 922 rating and the round of the day. He edged Eric Pearson, who finished -4 on a 921-rated round. Eric led through hole 7 on the strength of the only birdie on hole 2, a 341-foot par 3 where the rest of the field averaged +0.9. Scott took the lead after hole 13 with the sole birdie on that 368-foot par 3, the lead change that mattered. His hot streak ran across holes 10-13, and he closed with a bogey-free back nine, four strokes better than his front. That bought him the climb from 2nd to 1st. The ledger doesn't get much cleaner than that. π
Newcomer Bypasses the Waiting Period
Aloysius Dean won RAE at -2 on an 895-rated round, 20 points above the 875 rating and the round of the day. Aloysius Dean took the lead from Stephen Dunton after hole 4, when Stephen bogeyed from a shared lead and dropped out. A par train across holes 10-14 and a bogey-free back nine kept the deed safe. Christopher Hamby held the final cash spot in 2nd at +1 on an 856-rated round. He had the only birdie on hole 5 (311 feet) and charged on the back nine to climb from 3rd to 2nd. Kevin Koga finished 3rd at +2 on an 842-rated round, right on the bubble one place below the last payout, after an only-birdie on the 272-foot hole 8. Stephen ended 4th at +3 on an 829-rated round, 23 below his 852 rating. His consolation was the lone birdie on the 429-foot 18th, which sounds better than it feels. ποΈ
Rotating Landlords, One Final Eviction π
Michael Dougherty won RAD at -5 on a 935-rated round, 34 above his 901 rating and the round of the day. Last week was a 937 at -4, so the score improved while the rating held steady. Matthew Milliman and Nicholas Jennings pulled even with Brodie Duncan for the lead through hole 6, and Matthew led through hole 7 on a hot streak that ran holes 6-9. Nicholas bogeyed hole 7 and dropped out of the share. Brodie pulled even through hole 14, and Michael pulled even through hole 15 when Matthew bogeyed and dropped out. Michael took the lead from Brodie through hole 16. He'd drilled a 50-foot Circle 2 putt on hole 3, gone +2 on hole 4, then answered with a birdie on hole 5. His bogey-free back nine carried him from 4th to 1st, including the only birdie on hole 17 (415 feet). Brodie held the last cash spot in 2nd at -3 on a 908-rated round with his own clean back nine. Matthew finished 3rd at -2, on the bubble. Nicholas finished at even par on an 869-rated round, 35 below his 904 rating. He survived an OB on hole 11, birdied hole 12, parred 13-17, then sank a clutch 39-foot Circle 2 putt on hole 18 for the sole birdie there. Briggs Fulton took 5th at +1 on an 856-rated round with a bogey-free back nine, and they finished the day with a clean card on the closing stretch. π³
The Lone Surveyor's Big Day
Blaine Callahan won RAG at +11 on a 724-rated round, 76 points above his 648 rating, the round of the day, and led wire to wire. A four-hole cold streak on holes 1-4 didn't cost him the lead. A 76-point jump over a baseline is the kind of gap that makes the ranger look up from the paperwork. π
The National Race Gets Rezoned
Scott Belchak's 948 against a 922 effective baseline (+26) was the hottest National-entry round of the day. It earned 21 National points, moved his score from 3 to 24, and left him newly ranked and newly qualified at position 4 on the National Leaderboard after his fourth valid round. Blaine Callahan's 724 against a 648 baseline (+76) was the best baseline beat. It earned 50 points and moved his score from 0 to 50, but he sits at 2 of 4 required valid rounds and remains unranked. He beat his ghost rating, and his ghost after is 660. The biggest standings consequence belongs to Eric Pearson: his fourth valid round (3 to 4) made him newly ranked and newly qualified at National position 1 from unranked, the largest National rise on the night. His score stayed at 57 (net 0) on 0 points from a 921 round, and his ghost held at 926. That puts him in the provisional paid cohort, which is only a standings projection. The board is not final, payout delivery is not confirmed, and no individual payout promise is made. The relevant rival is Mike Irwin of Brighton, CO, at position 2 with a score of 55, 2 points behind Eric. πΊοΈ
The Fine Print Gets Loud
Two deuces landed on hole 18, a 429-foot par 3. Stephen Dunton (RAE) and Nicholas Jennings (RAD) each carded the only under-par score on it. The above-rating rounds were Blaine Callahan (+76), Michael Dougherty (+34), Scott Belchak (+26) and Aloysius Dean (+20). Nicholas (-35) and Stephen (-23) took the other end of that spread. On hole 2 (341 feet), Eric Pearson's lone birdie came on a hole where everyone else averaged +0.9. Scott's 48 on the day, per the tag ledger, finished 3.3 strokes under the 51.3 field average. The lore, themes and recaps here are AI-generated, and I'm the one real thing in the building. No throw-level stats came with this one, so track your rounds on PDGA Live and I'll have better stories next time. π
The Pot Grows, Nobody Collects
Eric Pearson won CTP on hole 6 (par 3, 235 feet) for $15.00, while Shane Cooper, Kevin Koga and Brodie Duncan each took +1 there. Hole 5 was the Super Ace hole, and the split pot grew from $316.00 to $332.00 after $16.00 from 8 contributors, with no winner. Shane (+1), Eric (+1) and Stephen Dunton (+3, missing a shot at the big pot) all had their look at it. π°
Two Summits, Zero Job Security
Bag tags run in AllIn mode this league, a full reshuffle each event, so no tag survives a week untouched. In Pool A, Scott Belchak played and climbed five places, from tag #6 to #1, to take the Ashen Prophecy, finishing 3.3 strokes under the 51.3 field average on a 48 and a 948 rating. Defense wasn't part of it. The tag is the season's keeper of concluded narratives, a pale, weathered surface like sun-bleached bone with dark lightning veins. I have feelings about lightning veins and won't be filing them. In Pool B, Aloysius Dean played and now holds tag #1, the Bleak Ember. No challenge data or Bleak Ember art was supplied, so there's nothing to add beyond the new holders.
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Next Week: Cottonwood Taken β Archival Carnage, Allegedly
Scott Belchak holds the Pool A summit after a hole-13 sole birdie flipped RAH, and Aloysius Dean holds Pool B. Eric Pearson sits at National position 1, 2 points ahead of Mike Irwin of Brighton, CO. Week 6, "Cottonwood Taken," lands Wednesday, October 7, 2026 at 5:40 PM at Creekside Park, with no venue change and a return to the NADGT League - Week 1-2 Layout. The storyline says the groves become a crowded chamber of rival ambition, with top holds hunted by name and the bottom barons playing spoiler. The plot thickens promises an exposed summit, a restless base, and a ledger closed with the wood carved in permanent relief. Grab your spot with the registration link.
A cottonwood bloodbath that's also "strictly archival" is a crime scene with a card catalog. π²